Every time a new haul of fakes get intercepted (recently £2m-worth were seized at Felixstowe) we are reminded this is not a victimless crime. Counterfeit goods trash the reputation of brands, steal revenue from companies and, we are told, subsidise organised crime.

Fake medicines, alcohol and toys are particularly ruinous – sold without the health and safety protection that we take for granted under consumer law when we buy real goods, they may not even be safe. According to regulatory agency MHRA, ethanol in counterfeit alcohol is routinely substituted with antifreeze or nail varnish.

Yet a recent report shows that among 18- to 24-year-olds, buying counterfeit has been normalised.

Academics refer to luxury fashion pieces as "credence goods". They are not just functional. Their desirability rests in nebulous things such as the reputation of the designer, or the fact that they can confer higher social standing. Many would question how "real" these real items are.

Buy a fake version and our emotions get really complex. When it comes to "stealing" revenue from huge luxury goods players, many find it difficult to locate their empathy switch even though most of us accept that copyright law is essential to protect our rights. Indeed these goods are so expensive that consumers feel delighted rather than guilty when they find versions at lower price points.

And rumour has it that higher-quality fakes are often made to original designs, from leftover materials, by underpaid workers. Some argue that these fakers should be cut some slack for subsidising their chronically low wages.

If luxury brands behave ethically, investing in their supply chain, upholding the status of the artisan producer, being transparent about where their goods are made, using ethically materials and paying their taxes, there's a chance consumers will value the real thing and be less ambivalent about the high price.

The real ethical action would be to stop buying bags you don't need. In his new book, Stuffocation, James Wallman argues that our acquisition of consumer goods is suffocating us and that's why we're beginning to reject materialism in favour of experiences that are real. With any luck, you'll start to feel that, too, and your fakes will become irrelevant.

Green crush

It's official: wonderful, wonderful Copenhagen has just been named the European Green Capital 2014 (taking the coveted crown from Nantes, France). So how did the Danish capital win the title? The bikes helped, of course (55% of Copenhagen's inhabitants cycle to work, school or college), but there has also been some serious carbon crunching, resulting in a 24% cut in carbon emissions in the past seven years. Meanwhile, the city's urban train system has also been voted the best metro in the world. Hopefully, it's enough to make competing capital cities turn green with envy.

Green speak: Home ecologics {hoam-eekohlodgikz} noun

It's time to fuse home economics and good green practice, says the American eco-warrior Jennifer Grayson. We need to focus on domestic food waste and water use as the first battle in the war on waste